Three More Steps To My Heart
by TalaDentro
Summary: A SLAHSY  so don't read if offended  Valentine Fluff piece! Harry's been missing for awhile, and Fred Weasley just got a clue as to his location. What will happen when he finds him?


**A/N: It's a Valentine Fluff piece because I don't do odd numbers and it's starting to drive me crazy. I went with Fred because I've done a George/Harry and a Twins/Harry, so it's Fred's turn now. And yes I know it's now the sixteenth but I'm not really sorry.**

**I don't know how the radio system works in Britain; I'm basically going off what I saw in Pirate Radio. So…yeah. **

**Warnings: Slash, angst, language.**

**Beta: FirstLaugh-LastTears because I couldn't do it w/o her.**

"This is Black Bambi on Wizarding Radio Rock, taking over the late night shift. Welcome all ye listeners! Let's get the party started with the newest hit from the Weird Sisters! Remember to spell in your requests to WRR76.1. And now, 'My Potion is Flat and So is Our Love'. Enjoy!"

Fred turned to stare at the radio, a thoughtful frown on his face. "Hey George?"

"Yes brother mine?"

"Does that voice sound familiar to you?"

"Well yeah of course, I love Weird Sisters."

"No, not them, the DJ!"

George shrugged. "You know I tune them out."

"Well after the song ends tune in, will you? I think, well, I'll explain after you've listened."

A few minutes later the song ended and the DJ came on to introduce the next few songs. "What a song! Next up is 'Back Off, Bogart' by Troll to be followed up by 'Unicorns Ate My Broom' by Funky Basilisk, but first, a word about our sponsor, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Have a test you don't want to take or a roommate that you hate? Floo on down to Diagon Alley where you'll find all your prank and revenge needs met by the two most devious and ingenious redheads, Fred and George Weasley!"

George turned to Fred with a similar looking frown. "Well for starters, the ad sounds great so kudos to me for the excellent idea. As to his voice, it does sound most like a certain missing hero."

"Yes amazing what one can hear with two ears. Oh snap!"

"At least I have brains."

"Are you implying that I _don't_ have brains?"

"You said it, not me."

"Not your cleverest line. Should we tell Ron?"

George shook his head. "Not when we don't know for sure." He pursed his lips, "Now that I think about it, 'Black Bambi' is a kind of coincidental name isn't it? Godfather being one Sirius Black and Bambi being the son of a stag."

Fred's eyes widened. "That's brilliant! A little obvious I guess, but not lacking in creativity."

George nodded, "I think I'll go down to the station's address tomorrow and check it out."

"No I'd better go. Harry left for a reason after all; he might be rather displeased with whoever decides to drag him back. Wouldn't want you to lose the other ear, what with it being your last and all."

"They stopped being funny about two years ago Fred, change tactics."

"Only to those who've lost their sense of humor George, lighten up."

"Go die."

"Your face."

"Your mom's face!"

"…she's your mom too!"

"Oh, well then how dare I insult my mother!" George slapped himself. "You're awful happy today Fred. Interesting that the perk in your sourpuss attitude coincides with a lead on Harry."

Fred turned away with a huff. "Totally unrelated, I assure you."

"Are you serious?"

"No he's dead."

"Burn."

"In Hell."

"I missed you brother."

"I missed me too."

* * *

Harry woke up quietly, head flicking from side to side. _I slept on the couch again._ After a few moments he sighed and stood up. _Another disappointed awakening. Might as well make breakfast. _

Harry counted his steps carefully, trying to remember where the kitchen was. Though he'd lost his sight nearly five years ago, he still hadn't fully adjusted to not being able to see. Seeing was something you took for granted. He was just so used to doing it that it was hard to not to.

It was especially disorienting when he woke up. His dreams were still in color. So when he woke up to nothing but black...well, it took getting used to. Waking up in the morning was like becoming blind all over again. The experience, over and over again, was painful, but Harry could handle it. After all, that was what he did best, handle things.

He'd handled Hermione's coddling and Ron's awkward reassurances. He'd handled Ginny breaking up with him because she couldn't handle his condition. He'd handled it all for four years. Eventually, it had reached the breaking point. So, by himself, he managed to handle buying a little house within the muggle world. He hired someone to put up wards, someone else to pack and move his stuff, and one last person to help him adjust to living without his sight. Without so much as a by-your-leave, and no forwarding address, Harry Potter left the Wizarding World, for the most part anyway.

The life he'd carved for himself was difficult, but that was only to be expected. Magic could, of course, make his life easier, but he preferred not to use it. It was a little like cutting off your nose to spite your face, but Harry wanted to be independent.

He did everything himself, by hand, if it was possible. He had a stay-at-home-job, he cooked, did his own laundry, walked wherever he needed to go, etc. He couldn't really tell if his house or the dishes were clean or not, but Kreacher liked to take care of that stuff anyway. The house-elf, who flat out refused to live in the muggle world, spent most of his time maintaining Grimmauld Place, but he made sure to check in on Harry several times a day.

Harry both appreciated his concern and found it extremely annoying. He would've put a stop to it ages ago, but Kreacher was so gruff about it, so non-pitying, that he could find no real fault in the house-elf's actions.

All in all, his life here was great. He got lonely a lot, though. He spent a lot of time daydreaming of a man who'd come in and sweep him off his feet, or a girl who needed him as much as he'd need her. Both fantasies were nice, but since Harry never went anywhere, the chance of meeting either person was nil.

He'd been having a lot of wet dreams recently starring his old school crush, Fred Weasley. He'd been interested in Fred almost from the first time they'd met. But in fourth year, it was made rather apparent to him that Fred was completely straight, so he'd given up on the dream of them being together. It was why he'd first become interested in Ginny. She looked a lot like the twins, and the way she spoke was sometimes similar to Fred.

The dreams were just as annoying today as they had been all those years ago. Maybe more so now because the chances of them being together were even lower than they'd been previously.

Harry finally found his way into the kitchen and opened his refrigerator, shaking off his thoughts in pursuit of a meal. All of his food was organized carefully. At first he'd tried putting everything into food groups, but half the time he couldn't remember which group a food belonged to. So now it was a little more generalized by what he typically ate in a meal. For example, on the top shelf he had "breakfast stuff" such as juice, eggs, and bacon.

Or at least, that's what he usually had on the shelf. This time his questing hand turned up empty. He searched the other shelves but found the same emptiness. He groaned at the realization that he'd once again forgotten to go grocery shopping.

Well not so much "forgot" as "intentionally put off". He hated grocery shopping. Food labels didn't come in Braille. He had no choice but to take a guide with him. Being guided through the store with everyone staring at him was humiliating.

He was miserably bemoaning his fate when his eyes widened in memory. The first time he'd gone to the grocery store near his house the manager had told him that they delivered groceries. Still butt hurt from being treated like a baby, Harry had refused, wanting to maintain his independence. But now, with his head on a little straighter, he was definitely warmed up to the idea.

The store had given him a card with a number to call should he choose to have a delivery, but, how was he supposed to read the number? "Kreacher!" Harry called.

The house-elf apparated in with a small pop. "Yes master?"

Harry, having forgotten what he did with the card, accio'd it to him. Feeling a tad lazy, he did the same with the phone. He held the card out. "Could you read me the number on this?"

The card was pulled from his grasp gently. Kreacher read the number while Harry dialed. He spoke to the store manager, who often helped him shop, and within minutes his order was placed.

"Thank you Kreacher. I appreciate the help."

"Master wanting to be knowing of his lesser friends."

Harry sighed but waved Kreacher on.

"Master's lesser friends often be visiting Master's more appropriate home but they still not be getting through the wards. I tells them like always that Master is not there, but they do not listen to Kreacher."

"How is Teddy?"

"Little unsuitable Master likes the toys Master sends him. He misses Master and asks for him often, but is doing well."

Harry bit his lip. He wanted to visit Teddy. He knew logically that Andromeda would respect his wishes and not tell anyone where he was, but he still couldn't bring himself to do it. He'd been on his own for a few mere months; he wasn't ready to give it up yet. His life was simple and lonely, but he enjoyed it. Would he stay here forever? Probably not. But he would leave when _he_ decided to leave and not when he was guilted into going back.

"Thank you Kreacher. You may go."

Another small _pop_ signaled that the house-elf was gone. Harry sighed and worked his way from the kitchen to his study. He had some work to do.

* * *

Fred watched the house for a good three hours. He hadn't seen the occupant or occupants as it may be. The wards around the place were pretty rock solid, which made sense Harry or not. It was a known location of a popular radio DJ. The guy was new to the scene but very good. He had fans coming out the yin-yang.

Unfortunately for Fred, talented wizard that he was, this meant that he could not get in. So he settled in to watch and wait…and wait some more. He had taken to spelling passing animals different colors when a car pulled in front of the house.

A teenager stepped out, chart in hand. He stared at it to the posted address and back again. He nodded in confirmation and went to press a button on the small white muggle device attached to the gate surrounding the place. After a short conversation the boy went back to his car.

As the gate opened, Fred's eyes widened when he felt the hole opening up in the wards. This was his chance! The teenager threw the chart back into the car and opened up the trunk. Fred sidled along behind him as the boy started pulling out what looked like grocery bags. A few mumbled spells later and the boy was asleep in the front seat of his car.

Fred gathered up a few bags of groceries so as to not look so suspicious. If he was wrong and this wasn't Harry, well, there would be a lot of explaining to do. He put a slight dampener on his magic, wouldn't be good if Harry's (or not Harry's) wards sensed that his delivery boy was a little less muggle than he should be, and slipped inside the property line.

He made his way to the door and knocked gently.

"Coming! I'll just be a moment."

If this wasn't Harry, Fred would eat Percy's tie collection.

After a few minutes the door was pulled open and sure enough, Fred's breath caught in his chest, it was Harry. He looked much the same as when he'd left. Though since it had only been a few months that was to be expected.

His hair was still a mussy black mess, hiding his scar. His eyes, once a brilliant green, were now nearly colorless. He was still rather fit, though his skin had paled. All in all he was quite a sight for miserable, heartbroken eyes.

Fred trembled, a shudder that seemed to shake his very soul. Though his original intention had been to just confirm that it was in fact Harry and then return home, he found that…he couldn't do that. After all this time, Harry was only three feet away! What if he disappeared again? What if Fred lost his chance?

He dropped the groceries and swept Harry up into his arms.

* * *

Two strong arms clamped around his middle and Harry's world shifted. He struggled violently, kicking and pushing against his assailant. "Kreacher!" He called sharply.

A pop and a snap latter Harry found himself sitting comfortably on his couch, panting heavily. "Kreacher?"

"Master is not to worry. Kreacher has restrained the red headed demon. He is now taking him to a dark and scary place where he will not be bothering Master again."

"'Red headed demon'?" Harry repeated. "Kreacher, wait!"

There was a long suffering sigh from somewhere in front of him. "Kreacher has failed his Master by losing chance to rid him of a bad influence. Kreacher shall return home to punish himself now." There was another small pop.

"Um…Hello?" Harry asked curiously.

"He didn't disobey you, I'm still here." Came a rather chipper voice.

Harry blinked. "Fred?" Harry had always been able to tell the difference between the twins. But it wasn't something about their appearance that tipped him off, as everyone assumed. No, it was their voices. Fred's was a touch gentler, a bit deeper, and his way of speaking was a tad smoother than George's.

"Nice to be remembered."

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I've got a lovely spot here in the middle of the floor about three feet in front of you."

"You're welcome to sit on the furniture." Harry offered, a tad puzzled.

"That'll take a bit of doing, seeing as how I'm still very much tied up. Pretzel style no less."

"Oh!" Harry knelt down on the floor and felt around. When he came in contact with a warm solid body, his innards quivered with excitement, he was reminded of a particularly vivid dream he'd had just last night...

He tried to distract himself by feeling for the ropes, only to realize rather quickly that that was actually making things worse instead of better. It took quite awhile to find the knot (every moment of said search sheer erotic torture), and even longer to get it undone. But with Fred calling out cheerful encouragement and rather accurate instructions, they managed to get it done within the hour.

Once they were both seated not on the floor, an awkward silence descended. "So…what are you doing here Fred?"

A snort. "I'm here looking for you Harry."

"How'd you find me?"

"Your station ran an ad for our store last night. George and I don't usually listen to the radio, but we made an exception."

Harry sighed. "I knew that would come back to bite me in the ass. Does anyone else know?"

"No." There was a rather hurt pause. "Do you really want to get rid of us that badly?"

"Yes, well no, that's not what I meant. I…" Harry took a deep breath. "I just had to get away. Everything was just this big constant reminder of what I'd lost and how much my life sucked. I had to prove that I could make it on my own. That I was still me, despite…despite, not being able to see. I was going to come back sooner or later."

"And in the meantime no word to any of us? We don't know if you're alive or safe or hurt or anything? Do you know how worried we all were? How worried I was?"

Harry frowned a bit. He liked Fred (obviously) but they'd never been exactly close (to Harry's displeasure), so it was a rather odd statement for Fred to make (not that Harry minded hearing it).

"Ron and Hermione went crazy looking for you. Dad tried to get the Ministry involved but since you left on your own there was nothing he could do and he still feels guilty that he can't do more. Mom's knitted you a whole room full of sweaters out of sheer anxiety. Teddy cries himself hoarse asking for you. And me, oh Harry…"

With every word Harry felt the heavy weight of guilt press down on his heart. Kreacher had been understating things, but Harry couldn't blame it on the house-elf. It was his own selfishness that was the cause. He hadn't meant to make anyone suffer. Well, maybe Ginny a little bit…

"Harry, there was something I swore I'd fess up to if ever I found you. Now I finally have the opportunity."

Large hands grabbed Harry by the shoulders and tugged him forward. Harry gasped as a pair of warm soft lips met his own. His sightless eyes widened in astonishment. Fred…liked him?

Holy crap.

* * *

Fred was freaking ecstatic. He was kissing Harry. He had the love of his life in his arms at last. As far as he was concerned, all was right with the world. Everything was rainbows, butterflies, and prancing unicorns.

Until he felt small hands pushing against his chest. He increased the pressure of the kiss for a moment or two before pulling back. He was breathing heavily, his heart thumping erratically.

"Fred." Harry panted. "When?"

"Since we helped you escape from the Dursleys. You were adorable. I assumed it was just because you were like family. But when you grew older and sexier…" Fred trailed off with a smirk.

Harry blushed.

"I started to realize that my feelings for you couldn't be further from familial."

"Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"At first I didn't want to approach you, I mean, you're my little brother's best friend. Then you were dating Ginny and after that fell apart I just didn't know how to approach you."

"And now?" Harry asked nervously.

"I think that you should at least let everyone know you're okay. Definitely visit Teddy. But, I won't force you to do anything you don't want to. I just want you to give me, us, a chance. If you want to stay here, that's fine. If you ever want to go back to Grimmauld or find another place in the Wizarding World, that's fine too. I love you Harry. I want you to be happy."

"Oh Fred…"

"Please Harry?"

Harry hesitated, his thoughts racing. He just couldn't believe that this was all happening, and so quickly too! But, it felt right. This was Fred after all. He'd wanted Fred for years! How could this _ever_ be wrong?

"I want to stay here, away from the Wizarding World, but I will send everyone word."

"And?"

"I'll go see Teddy, I've missed him too."

"AND?"

Harry bit his lip.

Fred deflated a little.

"How about dinner, tomorrow night?"

Fred let out a loud whoop and tackled Harry to the couch. He covered the younger man with kisses all the while chanting, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

* * *

_Two Years Later…_

"Hello listeners! Black Bambi here with a rather big announcement, I'm engaged!"

The groan of disappointment from adoring fans all over the British Wizarding World shook the foundations of the Ministry of Magic.

"So first I'm going to shamelessly plug my fiancé's store. Everyone shop at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes! They have an excellent selection of just about everything a young or old mischievous person could ever need! Second, I'm going to play our song. 'Spritely Love and The Dead Spider In Your Closet' by Jo. Put on your listening ears and enjoy!"

Harry pressed the button that switched it from the mic to the song and sank back into his chair with a happy sigh. But his peace, as usual, was quickly interrupted. Teddy, who had been officially adopted by Harry a few weeks ago (he'd wanted to be a part of the family in time for the wedding), shouted, "Papa Harry, Fred turned the neighbor's dog into an ostrich again!"

Harry rolled his pale eyes. "Fred, change him back. I don't want to suffer another visit from the Aurors."

"Ahh but Harry! He's so much cuter as an ostrich!"

"Okay, but you get to pay the thousand galleon fine they're going to charge us."

"Ugh…I'll change him back."

"That's what I thought."

A gentle hand grabbed the hair at the base of his skull and tugged his head back. Warm lips were pressed to his. "What kind of reward can I expect when I get back?"

"Ewww! Can't you guys do that when I'm not here? You're as bad Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione!"

Harry chortled. "One day you won't think it's quite so disgusting."

"If that day ever comes I give you permission to take away my broom until I come to my senses."

Fred guffawed. "I'll remember that!" He turned his head and whispered to Harry, "So, that reward?"

"We'll see." The lips pressed to his again. "I love you."

"I love you too."

**The End**


End file.
